Morneau will be in Opening Day lineup; Gardenhire gives plan for Nathan

TORONTO -- Justin Morneau will be in the Twins lineup, playing first base and batting cleanup, when they open their season on Friday night against the Blue Jays, Manager Ron Gardenhire confirmed Thursday.

Gardenhire said he spoke to Morneau on Wednesday about playing a few days, seeing how he's doing and giving him a break "here and there early in the season."

Morneau hasn't played in a regular season game since July 7, when he suffered a concussion here in Toronto.

"I sat him down in my office, and I said, 'Are you ready to do this?' And he said, he’s ready to do it," Gardenhire said, during a conference call with reporters.

Gardenhire has spoken to Joe Nathan and Matt Capps about the closer's role. Nathan, who missed last year recovering from elbow surgery, will be the closer again, but Capps will be right there to fill in when needed, perhaps quicker than has been assumed.

"We know Joe’s not going to be able to go out there three, four days in a row, or maybe even two," Gardenhire said. "We’re going to try to protect him early in the season. We've got two pretty good ones there."

Gardenhire also hinted that Kevin Slowey will be used in a set-up role, along with Jose Mijares, to get the ball to Capps and Nathan.

"Slowey’s actually been throwing the ball harder out of the bullpen," Gardenhire said. "His innings have been really quick. He goes and pumps it in there. He’s ahead in the count, and those are the kind of guys you want coming out of the bullpen."

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Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.